Kevin Knoefel sentenced to life in prison

Kevin Knoefel is sentenced by Lake County Common Pleas Judge Joe Gibson to a minimum of 42 years for convincing his foster daughter to stab his wife to death.

The father of Lisa Knoefel’s oldest daughter confronted Kevin Knoefel in Lake County Common Pleas Court Aug. 6.
“Lisa, we miss you. Kevin, what a piece of crap you are. You are a weak individual,” Nicholas Zanella told Kevin.

Judge Joe Gibson warned Zanella to stop aggravating the defendant, who was found guilty June 11 of convincing his foster daughter to stab his 41-year-old social worker wife to death at their Willoughby Hills home on Nov. 16, 2012.

“Two little girls go through pain every day because of him,” Zanella added. “I hope you give him the max. I hope you rot in jail the rest of your life.”
Knoefel, 43, who declined to comment on his own behalf, faced life in prison without parole.
He was instead sentenced to life with parole eligibility in 30 years for the most serious counts, plus 12 additional years because he was convicted of having a sexual relationship with his foster daughter. As a result, Knoefel is not eligible for parole for 42 years.
Although Knoefel did not react to the sentence, other people provided drama.
“Mr. Zanella is a plaintiff in a civil action against Mr. Knoefel. He’s here merely to humiliate him,” defense attorney Michael Connick said.
Connick later told the judge, “Mr. Zanella just said ‘(Expletive) you’ to me!”
Zanella was then kicked out of the courtroom, and at least one person applauded.
A woman then stormed out before saying sarcastically, “Thank you your honor. Thanks for letting me speak for my brother.”
The judge also admonished Connick, warning him to sit down and to stop turning the case into a sideshow.
Prosecuting attorney John O’Donnell said the couple’s foster daughter, Sabrina Zunich, now 19, is just as much a victim as Lisa because of her tough upbringing.
Zunich has not been convicted of a crime but testified at Kevin’s trial that she stabbed Lisa to death 178 times while the victim slept because her foster father promised her they could be together with the victim’s $785,000 in life insurance money.
“Sabrina Zunich was manipulated by Mr. Knoefel from the start,” O’Donnell said.
Connick replied, “For the state to suggest Sabrina is a victim in this case is as absurd as the jury’s verdict.”
Connick then implied Lake County social workers helped cause the murder, since they believed Zunich was doing well when they placed her with the Knoefels.
“To have them be blamed for why we’re here … offends me greatly,” the judge told Connick.
Gibson said he also was offended that Connick said the jurors failed at their job and that the reason Knoefel has shown no remorse is because he did nothing wrong.
“We have many people who are incredibly remorseful whether they are responsible or not,” the judge said.
Erika Gaiter, the victim’s boss and close friend, also spoke at the sentencing.
“Lisa was awesome with foster children. She’ll be truly missed,” Gaiter said.
Knoefel was convicted of all 11 counts brought against him — six counts of sexual battery, two of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and three of complicity to aggravated murder.
Connick said he also will represent Knoefel, who maintains Zunich acted alone, in his appeal.
Zunich’s first pretrial is scheduled for Aug. 8.